LeT, SIMI hand in Mumbai blasts  —  [ 11 Jul, 2006 2329hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]  —  NEW DELHI: The terror attack on Mumbai trains was carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba and local Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists and was designed to trigger communal conflagration …

My Leak Case Testimony  —  Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has informed my attorneys that, after two and one-half years, his investigation of the CIA leak case concerning matters directly relating to me has been concluded.  That frees me to reveal my role in the federal inquiry that …

In Big Shift, U.S. to Follow Geneva Treaty for Detainees  —  WASHINGTON, July 11 — In a sweeping change of policy, the Pentagon has decided that it will treat all detainees in compliance with the minimum standards spelled out in the Geneva conventions, a senior defense official said today.

Deficit's Good News Less Than Meets the Eye  —  WASHINGTON — When President Bush releases the traditional midsummer update on the budget today, he is expected to announce that federal revenue has soared above predicted levels and that the deficit is headed for a welcome decline from earlier estimates …

Who's Making What In The White House  —  President Bush's most senior aides — the ones who hold the coveted title of "assistant to the president" — recently received a $4,200 cost-of-living bump-up in compensation and now earn a top pay rate of $165,200, according to an internal White House list of staff salaries.

Prominent right-wing blogger today calls for the murder of Supreme Court Justices - the Right fails to condemn it  —  If your only source for news was reading right-wing blogs, you would have thought that the most significant world event in the last few days was that some crazy woman …

U.S. Terror Targets: Petting Zoo and Flea Market?  —  WASHINGTON, July 11 — It reads like a tally of terrorist targets that a child might have written: Old MacDonald's Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, the Mule Day Parade, the Sweetwater Flea Market and an unspecified "Beach at End of a Street."

MSNBC's Star Carves Anti-Fox Niche  —  Keith Olbermann, in his office: "You don't punch down.  If you're in my position, you punch upwards."  —  He is either the leading man of MSNBC or its leading agent provocateur, but Keith Olbermann has no problem embracing either role.

THE STATE HOUSE NEWS POLL  —  The following are key findings from The State House News Poll, a telephone poll conducted among 410 adults living in Massachusetts by KRC/Communications Research for The State House News Service.  The poll was conducted from June 28-30, 2006 …

Bush Job Approval Edges Up to 40%  —  First time since February that Bush approval in the 40% range  —  PRINCETON, NJ — President George W. Bush's job approval rating has edged up slightly higher in Gallup's latest poll, and is now at 40% for the first since early February.

Lawmaker Criticized for PAC Fees Paid to Wife  —  In the past two years, campaign and political action committees controlled by Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) paid ever-larger commissions to his wife's one-person company and spent tens of thousands of dollars on gifts at stores …